Milk yield and composition of Muturu cattle under the semi intensive system of management

Résumé

Milk was once obtained daily for 98 days from Muturu cows in their 3r lactation and analysed for yield and composition. Results showed that milk yield was generally low but there were highly significant (P < 0.01) individual variations in milk output. The butter fat content of the milk appeared relatively high (4.72 +0.08%). However, all the milk constituents were within the values reported for other tropical breeds. There was a significant inverse relationship (r = -0.87; P<0.05) between butterfat and milk protein, while the relationship between milk protein and lactose was positive and significant (r = 0.81; p < 0.05). Even though the milk yield of Muturu cattle is low, resource-poor rural farmers can readily extract some fresh milk from their cows for immediate family use in order to improve the family nutrition.